I can’t get through Women’s History Month without listening to the symphonies of Louise Farrenc. In truth, they are good enough to hold up at any time of the year. Lyrical, fluid and well-argued, they are all worthwhile endeavors in the Mendelssohn/Schumann mold. In fact, Schumann was among Farrenc’s admirers. Berlioz was another.
Her life, which spanned the years 1804 to 1875, was remarkable for, among other reasons, her being the only woman on the teaching faculty of the Paris Conservatory during the whole of the 19th century. Beginning in 1842, she served as professor of piano there for 30 years. Of course, she was only allowed to teach women. By the end of the first decade, her stature was such that she was able to demand – and receive – equal pay.
Her own teachers included Ignaz Moscheles (who taught Mendelssohn) and Johann Nepomuk Hummel (who studied with Mozart). Beginning at 15, she took composition lessons privately with Anton Reicha, who also taught at the conservatory.
At about age 17, she married a flute student, ten years her senior, with whom she toured as a pianist. She paused in her career as a performer to start a successful publishing house, Éditions Farrenc, which flourished for nearly 40 years. She also gave birth to a daughter, who also matured into a professional pianist.
Farrenc’s fame as a performer survived her by several decades. She left 49 published works, mostly piano and chamber music. Her Nonet in E-flat, Op. 38, was a particular success.
Ironically, it wasn’t the fact that she was a woman that led to her symphonies’ neglect, at least not exclusively. Apparently, anyone in France who wrote symphonies had pretty much the same problem getting any traction, since the orchestras were all tied to the theatre. If one wanted to get his or her symphony heard, he or she had to hire the musicians and organize the performances him or herself.
Camille Saint-Saëns was so frustrated by the circumstance that he was finally moved to found his own permanent organization for the promotion of orchestral music, the Societé Nationale de Musique, though it really didn’t take flight until the 20th century. Then, as now, audiences didn’t exactly flock to new music by unrecognized composers.
I hope you’ll join me tomorrow night for an example of Farrenc’s artisty. We’ll also hear a symphonic poem, “Andromède,” by Augusta Holmès (1847-1903), a French composer of Irish descent, who became a pupil of César Franck. Saint-Saëns proposed marriage to her multiple times, without success. Franck’s Piano Quintet is said to enshrine the teacher’s ardent longing for his student. Saint-Saëns, who participated in the work’s premiere, was not amused.
That’s “Cherchez la Femme,” this Sunday evening at 10 ET, with a repeat Wednesday evening at 6; or you can enjoy it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.
